Cheaper Testing

November 06, 1989|By Robert Brooks.

WAUKEGAN — Car emissions can now be measured in one second by a roadside sensor on a ``drive-by`` basis. There need be no inconvenience to car owners. Super emitters are much more quickly detected, and the cost is a small fraction of what the state now spends on emission testing.

The roadside sensor can test up to 1,000 cars per hour, compared with 20 per hour at state test lanes. And the roadside sensor costs less than 10 percent of the current test lane.

The sensor has been developed at the University of Denver and its accuracy verified. Over 100,000 vehicles have been tested.

Unfortunately, politics stands in its way. It develops much superior data on the emissions of cars much closer to real world use, and this differs greatly from the federal EPA data. This is the problem.